Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002lblf.symp...19g&link_type=abstract
Looking Backward, Looking Forward: Forty Years of US Human Spaceflight Symposium, p. 19-24
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Aerospace Engineering, Astronauts, Risk, Space Programs, Damage, Failure, Mercury Spacecraft, Space Flight, Spacecrews, Suborbital Flight
Scientific paper
What a wonderful day it is. We are taking the opportunity this morning to reflect on what it has meant since 1961 to he a spacefaring nation. We are also looking forward to the next forty years of human adventure in space and what it might bring us as a civilization. While the specifics of what will unfold during the first part of the twenty-first century are not certain-and that's the wonder of the space program-I can say with certainty that the possibilities are boundless. Accordingly, I am both excited about where we have been and where we are going. Alan Shepard, Of Course, had become the first American to fly into space during a 15-minute suborbital flight on 5 May 1961, riding a Redstone booster in his Freedom 7 spacecraft. At the ceremony that followed, President Kennedy recognized the courage and sacrifice of all those involved in America's first human spaceflight. The President commented that Shepard's success as the first United States astronaut was an outstanding contribution to the advancement of human knowledge, space technology, and a demonstration of man's capabilities in suborbital flight. President Kennedy also juxtaposed the very public flight of Alan Shepard with the secrecy of our rival at the time, the Soviet Union: "I also want to pay cognizance to the fact that this flight was made out in the open with all the possibilities of failure, which have been damaging to our country's prestige. Because great risks were taken in that regard, it seems to me that we have some right to claim that this open society of ours, which risked much, gained much."
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